The Best Quotes From The Fallout Games

Highlights

• War never changes: Fallout’s thematic baseline revolves around human nature’s destructive force.
• Enjoy the journey: The real golden rule in Fallout is that there’s always more side quests to do.
• Evolving relationships: The wasteland shows that different people can learn to coexist and grow civilizations.

The world of Fallout is fun and full of interesting characters that usually have something either weird or funny to say. While that is generally the theme of the wasteland, there are some characters who can bring the player back down to earth by saying something more thought-provoking.

Considering how the world was destroyed and is literally now just called the Wasteland, most characters in the world of Fallout have time to think of some fascinating quotes. Here are a few of the best.

Updated April 29th, 2024, by Gregory Louis Gomez: Few video game franchises are as dense as Fallout is. With nine releases in total, the series is full of rich lore and interesting characters for players to interact with as they see fit. As a consequence, the games are loaded with great lines of dialogue both from NPCs and even the player themselves. Some of the lines can be rather funny, while others explore the deeper themes and meanings of the series. There are so many great lines that this lis has been updated with a few more gems that players may stumble upon in the wasteland.

16 “War… War Never Changes.”

The Basic Thesis Of The Franchise

• Spoken By: Narrator
• Heard In: All Titles

Easily the most famous line in Fallout, “War never changes” is a damning indictment of human nature as a destructive force. It’s incredibly relevant in a series set in a post-nuclear war America, where corruption, authoritarianism and hatred destroyed the world in which the player inhabits. In many ways, it is the thematic baseline of the series and how each game interfaces with it is one of its long-running staples.

How each game chooses to tackle this theme varies wildly. Fallout 3 addresses it at face value with a heavy dose of cynicism, while Fallout 4 puts a (somewhat awkward, in all honestly) positive spin on it through the Sole Survivor’s ending monologue. New Vegas also addresses the idea, however, introduces more depth by offering a counterargument.

15 “Thou Shalt Get Sidetracked by Bull**** Every God****** Time.”

Cooper Howard Has a Golden Rule Of His Own For The Wasteland

• Spoken By: Cooper Howard
• Heard In: Fallout TV Show

If there’s one thing the Fallout show gets so right when it comes to adapting the games, it’s the dialogue. A perfect example of this is nearly everything said by Cooper Howard, the show’s ghoulish lead. This line in particular is hilarious just because of how accurately it summarizes the experience of playing Fallout, or any other open world RPG really.

Lucy might have her golden rule, but Cooper knows, just like any fan of the games, that the real golden rule of this series is that there’s always more side quests to do. Players and viewers alike can unite under this line.

14 “To Have Done The Things I Have Done In the Name Of Progress And Healing. It Was Madness.”

A Twisted Utopia Crumbles To Dust

• Spoken By: The Master
• Heard In:Fallout

Part of what makes The Master so compelling is that he’s weirdly an optimist when it comes to the future of humanity – provided that they adopt not only his worldview but his eugenics policy. Yes, while it’s true that the Master actually hates humans and wishes to replace them with mutants, his goals are fundamentally utopian in that they involve bringing about a brand new “perfect” society, as opposed to the Enclave’s attempts to resurrect the old one. He recognized one of the failings of the old world and sought to rectify it, albeit in an extremely twisted and immoral way. This Utopia proves to be a lie, however, as Mutants cannot reproduce naturally. Convincing The Master of this opens his eyes to the nightmare he has created, causing him to lose all faith in his plan and commit suicide.

13 “I Showed Them Total Warfare. Like I Said, There’s A Lot You Can Learn From Old Books.”

The Beginnings Of A Brutal Wasteland Empire

• Spoken By: Caesar
• Heard In:Fallout: New Vegas

Prior to forming his fascistic post-nuclear society, Caesar (known then as Edward Sallow) was a member of the Followers of the Apocalypse. The Followers are known for being altruistic, believing in the preservation and even-handed application of knowledge for the betterment of those in the wasteland. Edward, however, is the exact inverse of this and is a corruption of everything the Followers stand for.

Caesar weaponized pre-war knowledge for self-serving and destructive ends. It is rather ironic how the series’ most humanistic faction indirectly gave birth to one of the wasteland’s most inhuman organizations.

12 “The Thing About Happiness Is That You Only Know You Had It When It’s Gone.”

Wisdom Sometimes Comes From An Unlikely Place

• Spoken By: Conrad Kellogg
• Heard In:Fallout 4

Kellogg stinks, and everyone can agree on that. The first time the player meets him in the game, he assists in the abduction of their son, Shaun, and then murders the player’s significant other in front of their eyes, knowing full well that they are watching from within their cryogenic prison. Then, when the player does find him, he’s annoying and coy about the location of Shaun. Despite being the worst, he does get this one thought-provoking line in before being atomized by a Fatman blast, as someone of his character (or lack thereof) deserves.

11 “Did You Ever Try To Put A Broken Piece Of Glass Back Together?”

A Beautiful And Sad Summarization Of The New World

• Spoken By: Moira Brown
• Heard In:Fallout 3

Moira Brown is one of Fallout 3’s most memorable characters. She has tons of personality and is one of the main quest givers of Megaton. She also has some great lines of dialogue that make talking to her worthwhile. This quote, in particular, is such an appropriate way to describe the Capital Wasteland; broken into a million little pieces that once comprised the old world. The line is fundamentally a hopeful one, however, as Moira points out that the pieces can be picked up and used to make something new. This echos one of Fallout’s core ideas – the formation of new societies out of the broken remains of the world.

10 “It’s The End Of The World, All Over Again.”

The Cycle Of Violence And Despair Continues

• Spoken By: The Sole Survivor
• Heard In: Fallout 4

The ending in each of the Fallout games is always up to the player’s choices, which are made both during the game and at the very end. Fallout 4 is no exception. Depending on what faction the player chooses to side with for the climax of the game, the player might not hear this line.

The player hears this quote if they side against the Institute and cause its nuclear reactor to explode, destroying it from within. Much like how the Great War destroyed their pre-war life, nuclear fire is once again used to wipe away a part of the Sole Survivor’s life; in this case, it’s the future they dreamed they might have had with their son, Shaun.

9 “Ideals Are Strengthened By The Challenges They Endure.”

One Of The Main Lessons Of Fallout: New Vegas

• Spoken By: The Courier
• Heard In:Fallout: New Vegas

This line is “spoken” by the courier, the player character of Fallout: New Vegas, though by their nature, they aren’t heard speaking it. This line of dialogue is easily missed and yet rather poignant. It’s also interesting because of how it foreshadows the eventual showdown with Ulysses in Lonesome Road, in which ideals are the true weapon of choice.

It’s a skill check when the player is talking to some members of the Brotherhood of Steel. It’s especially prescient because it is an organization that is on the verge of extinction because of how religiously it follows its flawed ideals.

8 “You’re A Hero, And You Have To Leave”

The Wasteland Changes Those Who Walk it Into Something Else Entirely

• Spoken By: Overseer of Vault 13, Amata
• Heard In:Fallout, Fallout 3

In a cruel twist of irony, the ending of the first Fallout game sees the legendary Vault Dweller exiled from his home on the grounds that he simply isn’t one of them anymore, and has become the biggest threat to their way of life. This proved to be a rather memorable and fitting ending to the game’s story, and one that Fallout 3 would echo as well.

The Lone Wanderer experiences a very similar scenario after returning to Vault 101, with their longtime friend Amata banishing them in the name of preserving the peace.

7 “It’s Said War, War Never Changes. Men Do, Through The Roads They Walk.”

An Honest Counter To The Series’ Most Memorable Line

• Spoken By: Ulysses
• Heard In:Fallout: New Vegas

New Vegas, amazingly, does something that no other game in the series even comes close to: offering a counterargument to the classic “war never changes” idea. It’s true that war may never truly change. Whether it involves cannons or nukes, lead bullets or plasma, the goals are consistent throughout human history. People, however, do change, which is something that Ulysses himself exemplifies.

Contrary to popular belief, Fallout is not always about how horrible humans are and will always be. It is also about how people interpret the mistakes of the past in order to forge the path forward to a better world.

6 “And Don’t Get Me Started On The Futility Of Dusting A Collapsed House!”

Not Much For A Robot Butler To Do In The Wasteland

• Spoken By: Codsworth
• Heard In:Fallout 4

Fallout is, at times, darkly hilarious in how it chooses to develop its characters. In this case, Codsworth is a robotic servant of the Sole Survivor who has fortunately survived the Great War, only to be faced with the utter futility of carrying out his original purpose.

A slave to his programming, Codsworth can only think of how horrible it is that he cannot fulfill his duty to clean the house in a post-apocalypse, and yet his despair is both real and somewhat relatable. It’s this style of writing that often times makes the Fallout series so memorable.

5 “I Want to Call It My Own, To Make My Anger God’s Anger. To Justify The Things I’ve Done.”

Revenge May Not Be The Path To True Absolution

• Spoken By: Joshua Graham
• Heard In:Fallout: New Vegas

Joshua Graham is among the most interesting characters that players can interact with in Fallout New Vegas. His past is colored by the blood he’s spilled in the name of Caesar, and his own selfish desires. But he’s well aware of this fact, and wants more than anything to change for the better. Joshua’s commitment to self-improvement via living a pious lifestyle is admirable, though he is not without sin.

Much like those who broke into the Sierra Madre or Ulysses at the Divide, he has a difficult time letting go. His anger and shame weigh him down as he attempts to launder his faith to justify his actions. He yearns for that feeling of righteousness that he had before, but deep down he knows the further into darkness he descends, that feeling will ultimately be lost to him.

4 “Oh What Sinkhole Are You From? Muties And Normals Made Peace A Long Time Ago.”

Even In The Wasteland, Different People Can Learn To Coexist

• Spoken By: Marcus
• Heard In:Fallout 2

One of the main themes of Fallout is that the wasteland is an ever-changing beast. For example, what was once a heated conflict between mutants and normal humans in the first game has simmered to a level of tolerance that allows for the growth of new societies. This is seen in Fallout 2, where, in 80 years, Broken Hills has formed as a diverse community of humans, ghouls and mutants living together, led by the super mutant Marcus.

This line, among others, is Marcus providing valuable insight into the evolving relationships between various people in the wasteland, whether they be a mutant or otherwise. It is a reminder that Fallout is about more than just typical wasteland violence, but the growth and evolution of civilization in a world forever scarred by the mistakes of the past.

3 “Victory Shall Be Ours, It Shall Be Swift, And It Will Be Honest; Purchased With Blood.”

Some Men Believe In The Purity And Truth That Lies Within Conflict

• Spoken By: Legate Lanius
• Heard In:Fallout: New Vegas

Lanius is nothing if not a butcher of colossal proportions. Encased in metal and seething with tribalistic rage, Legate Lanius’ fury is as honest as it is bloodthirsty, which is why Caesar saw fit to spare him even after wiping out his whole family. In him, Caesar sees an improvement upon his previous Legate, Joshua Graham. He is unburdened by conscience, and not only willing, but wholly capable of being many times more frightening to his own men than the enemy before them.

Lanius values the truth in strength and the will to dominate, rather than the use of trickery and corruption typically employed by other members of the Legion, such as Vulpes Inculta.

2 “Death Is A Preferable Alternative To Communism.”

A Darkly Ironic Statement Considering The State Of The World

• Spoken By: Liberty Prime
• Heard In:Fallout 3

At the heart of the Fallout Franchise is the satire of American society via the invocation of the civil-defense era. The 1950s was one of the high points of Cold War fearmongering by the American government. The communists were out to get everyone because that’s who they were, “godless commies.”

Liberty Prime references this by echoing many of the jingoistic phrases parroted by people of the day. It’s dripping with irony and serves to drive home the point that any ideology can be weaponized by those in power to wage war.

1 “I Said I Had A Theoretical Degree In Physics.”

The Player Isn’t The Only One With A 100-level Speech Skill

• Spoken By: Fantastic
• Heard In:Fallout: New Vegas

Probably the funniest line in the entire franchise is uttered by Fantastic in Fallout: New Vegas. Upon searching for people to restore the HELIOS One solar power plant, the NCR apparently came across this guy somewhere in the wasteland.

Very little is known for sure about his qualifications, although it’s almost a guarantee that he has exactly zero, and he knows it. Yet, the real joke is that the NCR is dumb enough to have bought his line of BS. If anything, it speaks to their overall incompetence that they fell for the on-the-spot lie from a childish con artist with a drug addiction.